Best Capital One Credit Card

If Capital One’s range of credit cards can be credited with one thing, it’s diversity. No matter your credit history or spending habits, you’ll likely find a Capital One credit card that works best for you. After all, they’re one of the biggest issues of credit cards in the United States, so they have a lot of gaps to fill.

Whether you want more rewards for frequent travel, or want to go all in on cash back rewards, or even build your credit back up, Capital One has cards with rewards and resources that cater to each of those specific niches and more.

Which is the best Capital One credit card for you? That depends on what you’re looking for. Luckily, we’ve decided to break down some of their most popular and diverse rewards cards below to help you figure out which card scratches your particular itch.

Highlight: General mileage rewards

10x miles for Hotels.com bookingsRewards don't expire for the life of the account

Intro APR

0%

Variable APR

13.49% - 23.49%

Annual Fee

$0

Card Perks

Travel

Why It's Good

The VentureOne credit card focuses on flexibility of travel above all else – instead of cash back or points, the VentureOne card gives you miles you can use for air travel. The rest of its rewards are singularly attuned to frequent travelers, especially its whopping tenfold bonus on hotel bookings through Hotels.com.

Not only that, it’s just a decent card on its own – with no annual fee, and no interest for a year with their introductory rate, the VentureOne card doesn’t require a big up-front investment. Not only that, their enormous signup bonus of 20,000 miles (earned by spending a paltry $1,000 in three months) is nothing to sneeze at.

For these reasons and more, this is one of the best Capital One credit cards for travelers. Not only does it offer a pretty generous, unlimited baseline reward tier, cardholders can get a lot of mileage out of that huge Hotels.com bonus.

Uniquely designed for cardholders who like to travel, that synergy between hotel booking bonuses and the ability to build up miles without limits make the VentureOne an incredibly strong option.

Why It's Good

It can be difficult to get started with credit; after all, most cards require you to have high credit scores and an existing history of good faith lending. Luckily, Capital One seems to understand that, and the QuicksilverOne card has been created with that audience in mind.

On an objective level, the initial tiers of the card aren’t great; the variable APR range is high (24.99%-28.99%), and you also have to pay a $39 annual fee (which is low, but still). However, this is clearly meant to be a beginner card, as its Credit Steps system allows you to access higher credit lines after making five on-time monthly payments.

Even so, as a starter credit card, it still comes with a robust set of rewards. The card earns you 1.5% cash back on all purchases, with no limit, and you get $0 fraud protection and car/travel insurance as well.

With a set of features uniquely suited to get someone started with their lending career, the QuicksilverOne is the best Capital One credit card for new cardholders. There’s no signup bonus, and you’ll pay more in interest, but the card is designed with the new credit user in mind.

Why It's Good

We spend more on food than anything, whether it’s dining out or grabbing groceries for the week. To that end, Capital One’s Savor Dining Rewards card is designed specifically for cardholders who want to benefit most from their food expenses.

Central to the Savor card is the tiered cash back rewards system for purchases; while there’s a 1% blanket cash back rate on all purchases, cardholders get 2% cash back when they buy groceries, and 3% cash back when they use it on dining and restaurants.

While these aren’t gargantuan rewards (it would be nice to get 5% on the highest tier, which is how many of these cards work), they’re still pretty beefy for cardholders who want a card they can dedicate to expensive date nights or business dinners.

What the card lacks in sheer rewards it makes up for in flexibility; you can redeem your rewards at any time or select one of several automatic redemption options. For instance, you could redeem your rewards every year, or have them apply when they reach a particular threshold (from $25 to $200).

There’s no annual fee, and a hefty $150 signup bonus (just for spending $500 in the first three months), making the Savor Dining Rewards card the best Capital One credit card for diners and foodies.

Why It's Good

If you’re looking for a nice, simple, journeyman credit card, the Capital One Quicksilver card is a pretty solid option. Its rewards are no muss, no fuss; just a simple, unlimited 1.5% cash back on all purchases, along with the usual travel upgrades and discounts when you shop at certain retailers.

What’s more, it costs a little less than usual just to have the card in the first place: there’s a 0% introductory APR, no annual fee, and the variable APR range is fairly low (14.24%-24.24%). Of course, the high credit score requirements for this card mean that you’ve already proven you can be trusted with credit by the time you get the card.

Not only that, the Quicksilver card offers a hefty $150 signup bonus for those cardholders who spend more than $500 in purchases in their first three months of membership. It’s a pretty nice bonus with an incredibly low spending requirement, effectively giving you a 30% discount on the first $500 of purchases you make.

All in all, the Quicksilver Card is nothing special, and doesn’t offer anything a lot of other cards don’t already. However, if you value simplicity and low APR in your credit cards, the Quicksilver might be the Capital One credit card for you.

Why It's Good

Capital One’s Spark line is specifically designed to cater to the specific needs of small business owners. Their Cash Select card is probably their most straightforward – it’s a no-nonsense credit card for people who want a designated card for business expenses, but favor cash back as a rewards system.

The Spark Cash Select’s rewards system is simple: you get 1.5% cash back on every purchase you make with the card. While you don’t get the added benefits of category-specific bonuses, the Spark Cash Select makes up for it with a slightly higher than normal rewards rate (most cards like this tend to favor 1% baselines for their cash back).

In addition to that, there are no annual or foreign transaction fees, as well as a 9-month 0% introductory APR. That’s a bit less common with business cards than it is with your normal, everyday personal credit card.

Between its solid though unremarkable cash back rewards, a welcome $200 signup bonus (for spending $3,000 within the first three months of owning the card), and the lack of an annual fee, business owners could do a lot worse than getting the Spark Cash Select card.